Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil options volatility fell as
the underlying futures retreated in late trading to close lower
for the first time in four days.

Implied volatility for options expiring in November, a
measure of expected price swings in futures and a gauge of
options prices, was 28.58 percent as of 4:50 p.m. in New York,
down from 28.68 percent yesterday.

Crude oil for November delivery fell 59 cents to settle at
$91.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices
touched $92.94 earlier.

The most active options in electronic trading today were
November $105 calls, bets that prices would rise, which declined
5 cents to 7 cents a barrel at 4:53 p.m. with 1,988 lots
trading. December $115 calls were the second-most active, with
1,725 lots exchanged as they fell 4 cents to 20 cents a barrel.

Calls accounted for 54 percent of the 28,400 contracts in
electronic trading. One contract covers 1,000 barrels of oil.

The exchange distributes real-time data for electronic
trading and releases information the next business day on open-outcry volume, where the bulk of options activity occurs.

In the previous session, bearish bets made up 55 percent of
the 103,184 contracts traded.

December $125 calls were the most actively traded options
with 6,260 lots changing hands. They were unchanged at 13 cents
a barrel. December $80 puts fell 10 cents to 56 cents on volume
of 5,590.

Open interest was highest for December $120 calls with
46,775 contracts. Next were December $80 puts with 45,278 lots
and December $100 calls with 43,456.